Folding chair



Oct. 14, 1952 E. w. ANDERSON ET AL FOLDING CHAIR 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 FiledMarch 7, 1951 {{(IIIIIIIIIIIA'IJITIIIIA INVENTORS 2/ 'ENFRED w. ANDERSONARVlD J.ANDERSON ATTORNEYS Oct. 14, 1952 E. W. ANDERSON ET AL FOLDINGCHAIR 2 sHEE'Ts 'sHEET 2 iled March 7, 1951 M u w! H! INVENTORS ENFREDW. ANDERSON ARVJD J.ANDERSON W/ 2 WV ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 14, 1952-FOLDING CHAIR f Enfred W. Anderson and Arvid J. Anderson,

Norway, Mich.'

" l- Application March 1, 1951, Serial No. 214,258

This invention relates cto 'folding chairs and is an improvement on ourpending application Serial Number 180,118, filed August18,"19-50. i

As brought out in tliebbjectsof our pending application, the basicpurpose of the invention Claims. (01. 155-140) resides in theprovision'iofa sturdy folding chair v having the appearance of apermanent full sized chair when set up "foru'se,-and which will notaccidentally close 'or pinch'personsusing the chair, and when collapsed,will occupy a minimum amount of: space and stand vertically in 'anupright position on-its'own legs.

The primary object ofour present invention is v to improvethe"chair'"construction, not only to enhancethe appearance-thereof, butto give additional comfort and an effective back support for the user ofthe chair.

Another salient object-f the invention,- is the provision of .meanswhereby a wide'chair back can be hingedly carried'by the chair seat s'othat said back'canxbe folded over the chair seat and thereafterthetchair 'seatwith the'back can be utilized to bring about,thecollapsing of the side frames of the chair towardone another.

A furtherimportant objectof the invention is the provisionofmeansywhereby the chair bottom or seat an'dlthe :back will be disposeddirectly between thesideframes, when the chair 1 is in its collapsed,positionq-to aid in the stability of the chair whenjthe.chairiscollapsed and stood upright on its legs; j, I

A further importantobject of our invention is the provision'ofanimproved linkage for facilitating the -co1lapsingaand: opening of thechair.

With these andjother objects in view, the invention consists inthejinovel construction, arrangement and formation. of parts, as-will behereinafter mQlezf; specifically described and claimed, and illustrated"in l the accompanying drawings, in which drawings,

Figure 1 is, a sideqeleyational view of our improved chair in its set upposition.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of in its set up positions Figure 3is a vertical the chair. 1

Figure 4 is a transvcrsesectionalview through the chair taken on theline |4' of Figure 3,

the chair sectional view through looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view through the chair showing thesame in its collapsed .position, the view showing the position of thechair seat or bottom and the back relative to the side frames.

Figure 6 is a side elevational view of the chair in its collapsedposition.

Y z Figure 'Tis an enlarged fragmentary detail transverse sectional viewtaken on the line 1-1 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of thearrows illustrating the linkage.

J Figure 8 is a fragmentary front elevational View showing .the chair inits collapsed position and illustrating the means of pivotally connectinthe side frames of the chair together;

Figure 9 is a detail horizontal sectional view taken on the line 9--9'ofFigure 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 10 is a detail horizontal sectional viewtaken on the line I||I0of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows illustrating themeans employed for detachably connecting thechair back to the'backuprights, when the chair is in its set up position.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter C generally indicates our improved folding chair.

As set forth in our co-pending application, the

chair includes a pair of companion-like side frames I5 and I6, a chairseat or bottom I1, and

' a back rest I8.

frame I5 includes a top rail I0 and front and rear legs 20 and 2|. Thetop rail I5 extends rearwardly of the leg 2| and has rigidly securedthereto a back upright 22'.

also includes a. top rail 23 and front and rear- The side frame I6 legs24 and 25. The rail '23 extends rearwardly of its leg 25 and hasrigidly'secured thereto a back upright 26. The back legs 2| and 25,diverge rearwardly from the front legs 20' and 24, so as to form a wide,spreading base when the chair is in its open position. v

The back uprights 22 and 26 have rigidly secured to their upper endsinwardly extending over-lapping plates 21 and 28. The plates 2|- and 28are-pivotally connected together by a centrally disposed pivot bolt. 29,so that the chair frames I5 and I6 can be swungtoward one an The freeedge of the plate 28 is provided with angularfaces 30 and 3|. a stop to'limit the outward swinging movement of the frames I5 and I6 and the face3| acts as a stop to limit the inward swinging'movement of the frameswhen the chair is collapsed.

In accordance with our present invention, the

chair seat I1 and the back It are-arranged'and' constructed in a novelfashion and are joined to the side frames I5 and IS in an improved canbe fabricated in any The face 30 acts as way. The seat I"! can beprovided with 2. rolled front edge 32 so that when the seat is in itslowered position, the same will give an ornamental efiectand hide to adegree, certain operating mechanism from view. The seat can beupholstered, should such be desired. Rigidly secured to the seat I7,adjacent to its rear edge, is a centrally ,disposewupstanding cleat 33to which is "connected by -hinges'lili, 'the'back I8;

The back [8 includes a relatively wide back rest panel 35 and thesupporting piece 36. porting back piece 36 at its lower edge isconnected directly to the cleat 33 by the hinges 34, so that the back l8in its entirety-can befolded .Over the seat 1?.

When the back It; is in its .raised position the same is held against-acci-'- This sup swinging of the levers 41' and 42 will push the lowerends of the frames 15 and 16 away from one another to a divergingpositiomand as the seat approaches the rails l9 and 23, the tapereddowelpins will be received in the socket opendental displacement bymeans of a headed pin 31 (see Figure carried by the panel'35.

The plate 28 has secured to its lower edge a keeper 38 for receiving andgripping the head of the pintl. 'This keeperSfi can embody resilientgripping jaws 39;. L 1

In contra-distinction to ourchair shown in the mentioned pendingapplication, the; chair seat; H is independent of the side frames 1 6and that is, the chair seat is nothinged directly to either of the sideframes. As illustrated, (see Figures Sand '7) the frames l5 and 16 havepivotally connected thereto, as at 40, crossed levers H and 42,respectively, and the, levers are pivotally connected together inter-.mediate their endsby means iof .a'pivotv pin 43.

Preferably, there area front and rear set of the crossed levers 4i and42. If desired, the pins 40,. for the levers, can be carried by braceboards 44 secured to' the inner faces of the side rails lfi and- 23. Thelevers 42 of each set have their upper ends pivotally connectedby-Tmeans of pins 45,. directly to the chair seat ll. The upper ends ofthe leversdl are-pivotally connected to the chair seat 11 by connectinglinks 45. As illustrated, the links are joined to the levers 4i byppivotpins 47, and to the chair seatby' pivot pins. 48. It is-preferredtosecure to-xthe chain seat {7, cleats 49 and the pivot pins 45 and 48 canbeecarried by these cleats. A third transversely extending cleat 50 canalso be secured to the lowensurface of the seat ll, should such bedesired,

The upper faces of the side rails 19 and 23 carrytapereddowel pins 5!and socket openings 52 ,aregformed in the lower surface of the seat I?for; receiving these pins when the seat is inits lowered position.

In use of ourimproved chair, and considering that the chair is in itsset up position, as shown in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive,-and it isdesired to collapse the same, the back I8 is pulled forwardly to detachthe headed pin 31 from the keeper 1 38, and the back is lowered over theseat as shown in dotted lines in Figures 3 and i.- 'The seat l7 itselfis new grasped adjacent to the side frame I5 and is pulled upwardly andat'the same time, the frame I6 is moved toward the frame;.l 5. Theupward swinging movement of the seat ll .will automatically move thelower ends of the-levers M and 42' toward one another and the links 46will push and carry the seat I! upward to the position shown in Figures5 and 6.

By referring to Figure 5, it will be noted that the seat l'l is movedtoa substantially vertical position between theside frames I5 .andlfi. andthat the side frames l5 and It are parallel to ings 52. The terminals ofthe cleats 49 and 58 rest between the side frames I5 and 16, which ingthe chain. 1 Changes in details may be made without departing from thespirit or the scope of this instrengthen the chair and these cleats formabut ments against which the side frames rest.

From the foregoing. description, it can be seen that we have improvedthe original chair in the back construction and in the means offoldvention, but what we claim as new is:

1. A folding chair comprising a pair of like companion side frameaeachof said frame includingr a top rail, depending front and rear legs and aback upright, means pivotally connecting the back uprightstogetherwhereby the side frames can be moved toward and away from one another, aseat movable relative to the side frames, front. and rear pairs. ofcrossed levers, the crossed levers of each pair being pivotally"connected intermediate their ends, means pivotally connecting the lowerendsof the crossed levers of each pair to the side frames, meanspivotally connecting the upper end of one 1ever of each pair of leversto the seat, and links pivotally connecting the upper ends of the otherlevers tothe chair seat.

2. A folding chairas defined in claim 1, and depending cleats carried bythe seat adapted to engage the inner faces of the side rails when theseat is in its lowered position.

A folding chair as'defined in claim 1, and said side frames and seathaving cooperating pins and sockets when the, chair seat is in itslowered position over the side frames.

4. A foldingchair as defined in claim 1, and a hinged back secured tothe rear end of the seat movable to an inoperative position over theseat.

5. A folding chair as defined in claim 1, and said 'chair'seat beingmovable to a raised vertical position for drawing theframes toward oneanother by said levers with the seat lying between the frames.

ANDERSON. ARVID J. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent;

UNITED sTATEs PATENTS 177,913 Switzerland Sent. 2, 1935

